About

Do you own and love these wonderful vintage tape recorders and turntables?
Do you look for a link between these fantastic machines and the modern digital world?

We finalized the design of our ADICON - a special ADC (analog-to-digital audio converter) designed particularly for HiFi-enthusiasts - and thus probably for you.

There is one hurdle left: This device needs to be produced. And in order to take this hurdle we need your help! Show us your interest in this project, give us a kickstart and become a backer. Early birds and backers will be rewarded for their engagement!

What is your benefit of the ADICON?

This technically and optically excellent designed device enables you to use a digital link, either optical or coaxial, between your turntable or tape recorder and your sound system.

There is one input for the turntable and one input for the tape recorder provided. The built-in high-performance RIAA preamplifier enables you to directly connect your remote turntable.

Should you want to use your existing preamp - no problem, the input is capable of handling that, too. Then you can transcribe your vinyls to your tape recorder and listen to your recordings.

Moreover, the powerful headphone output enables you to listen to tapes and vinyls without turning on your sound system.

With its 24 bit resolution and a sample rate of up to 192 kHz and with its strictly neutral design it offers you a brilliant signal quality and a pristine sound.

Precise leveling of the digital audio signal is possible thanks to the 2 x 10 LED digital SPPM (Sample Peak Programme Meter), which widely meets the EBU - European Broadcasting Union requirements for professional studio equipment. Both inputs can be leveled individually.

We would like to share with you the progress of our first analog-to-digital converter's design process.
Thank you for supporting us.

Michael, Heinz, Sonny, Uwe, and the rest of the SSB Audio Team

In the cold winter months 2013/14, Heinz has dealt with the idea to preserve his old audiophile treasures and heirlooms from ruin. Many high-quality tape recordings and countless records slumbered in shelves of his small sound archive. Some of the tapes contained recordings from the 50s. At that time the broadcasting station of the American Forces in Germany - short AFN – still transmitted from Heidelberg. For countless hours his father had been sitting in front of the tube radio and had recorded the most beautiful pieces on tape.

His tape recorders and record players had always been well maintained and serviced, the electronics had elaborately been revised then by his son (Heinz) and the sound of the "Vintage Machines" was still outstanding. But how do you get these recordings and records transported into the digital world? A converter was needed!

Heinz searched the internet for an analog-to-digital converter which corresponded to his objectives. But the expectation of finding countless providers in Google, was quickly tarnished. There were only one or two suppliers from the Far East, who offered an ADC being more or less able to cope with the different levels of the tape inputs and outputs. But a provider in Hannover on the website beis.de offered a kit that was very promising. Controllable inputs and sampling frequencies that belong to the studio area.

An email to the owner of the site beis.de was quickly written. It was Uwe, our co-founder and today the "Gyro Gearloose" of audio electronics development. Heinz was simply struck dead by the technical possibilities that could be in his ADC, if one extended, planned, developed and implemented it with Heinz’ wishes. So pretty quickly an intimate exchange of ideas and visions developed. Uwe, who got his longtime business friend Sonny on board from the beginning, quickly suggested a joint meeting in Hannover. Sonny, who was to build an absolutely precise 5.1 Crossover for his old and famous friend Michael Cretu (Enigma) for his studio in Ibiza in 2007, found Uwe in much the same manner in the web. Uwe's calculation skills and circuit proposals had been convincing then, and so a technical and interpersonal friendship developed. Now all three are in a team and - no sooner said than done - the idea of SSB Audio and the ADICON was born!

Our project began with a blank piece of paper, the idea to design an analog-to-digital converter absolutely pristine in sound. Quite early we decided to implement the project by a crowdfunding campaign because it is virtually impossible for us as newcomers to the consumer market to estimate sales opportunities for our baby to 100%.

So we included our old friend
Michael, another audio enthusiast, to help us with the
kickstarter campaign. He has lived in the UK since 2003 and is a
brilliant networker with lots of interesting international
contacts.

Our idea took on shape quickly and has constantly been refined and elaborated. The feature set has steadily been expanded, without losing the focus on the genuine sound of the converted music.
The requirements formulated for an ADC, requests for additional features and a design that harmoniously conforms to the established designs of hi-fi product lines were determined in long-term research in German, US and other international hi-fi forums.

In principle, the Kickstarter community could have been involved earlier, but we are still open to your feedback and suggestions.
Nevertheless, we are confident to present here today a professionally developed and timelessly designed hi-fi product satisfying highest demands in quality and sound.

In German language, but with multilingual closed captions.

Time is a jet-plane. This little timeline gives you a small overview of what we did in the past to make our dream come true.

Kind words from the press

"Under the lid there is a Cirrus Logic delta/sigma analogue to digital converter, a clock with two crystal oscillators and an anti-aliasing filter. SSB Audio has produced an extensive white paper that infers that it knows what its doing, so if you’re in the market for a quality approach to archiving your analogue this might be worth a punt." read more

HiFi-enthusiasts that are looking for an analog-to-digital converter may be interested in a new converter created by Michael Glintzer and his team called the ADICON. Read more

Super high quality AD conversion interface. The ADICON converter has a 24 bit resolution and a sample rate of up to 192kHz so certainly looks like the money on paper. On board LED monitoring will ensure that your conversions are distortion free. Read more

Kind words from the High End Society

"Heinz, -so the RIAA is implemented in the digital domain. That's clever. The only affordable A/D processors out there are the ones aimed at the musician / home recording market. I use an old Roland / Edirol unit to archive my vinyl along with a quality tube preamp. I love the idea of your Adicon. Looks cool too."

"Heinz, it sounds as though you have thought this out to perfection. Us MC guys still hang on to our vintage pre-preamps like they are gold.....and they are by todays standards and costs."

Risks and challenges

PROJECT RISKS vs. PRODUCTION RISKS
It is important to distinguish between risks that threaten the whole project as such and risks in production, which can result in delays.

PROJECT RISKS:
• Our ADICON is in a development stage which allows mass production.
• The ADICON was tested for function and reliability.
• The suppliers and manufacturing plants were selected and production slots are assured.
• Even if we encounter high demand, we will be able to scale production and logistics accordingly.
⇒ The project can be implemented upon conclusion of the financing.

PRODUCTION RISKS:
• Due to our high quality standards and a tight tolerance range for production variances, unforeseen delays in the production process of the ADICON may occur.
• Possible delays were taken into account in the calculation of the delivery time, however, the delivery time indicated is a rough estimate and may differ from reality.
⇒ All backers are going to receive a product that meets our high quality standards.

» The factor of time is the only variable that cannot be calculated at 100% «

Support

Select this reward

Pledge £5 or more
About $6

Welcome to the inner circle of the ADICON creators!
For a pledge of £5 you'll receive exclusive project updates and future ideas. In addition we'll list you as a backer on our website – www.ssb-audio.com. Thank you for helping us to create a genuine audio product.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £35 or more
About $45

Welcome to the inner circle of the ADICON creators! Visit us on the largest European HIGH END Exhibition 2015 in Munich. For a pledge of £35 you'll get a free one-day-ticket valid for Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Meet Uwe, Sonny and Heinz personally and talk about the innovative roadmap for the ADICON series. Additionally you'll receive exclusive project updates and future ideas and we'll list you as a backer on our website – www.ssb-audio.com. Thank you for helping us to create a genuine audio product.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £625 or more
About $804

SILVER ADICON - EARLY BIRD.

You'll receive the ADICON with silver front panel, power supply, user manual, and KICKSTARTER exclusive packaging and a note from the ADICON creators. You'll save £150 compared to the estimated retail price. In addition we'll list you as a backer and owner on our website.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £625 or more
About $804

BLACK ADICON - EARLY BIRD.

You'll receive the ADICON with black front panel, power supply, user manual, and KICKSTARTER exclusive packaging and a note from the ADICON creators. You'll save £150 compared to the estimated retail price. In addition we'll list you as a backer and owner on our website.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £625 or more
About $804

SILVER ADICON.

You'll receive the ADICON with silver front panel, power supply, user manual, and KICKSTARTER exclusive packaging and a note from the ADICON creators. You'll save £150 compared to the estimated retail price. In addition we'll list you as a backer and owner on our website.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £625 or more
About $804

BLACK ADICON.

You'll receive the ADICON with black front panel, power supply, user manual, and KICKSTARTER exclusive packaging and a note from the ADICON creators. You'll save £150 compared to the estimated retail price. In addition we'll list you as a backer and owner on our website.